Gen. Leonid Ivashov was Chief of Staff of Russian armed forces when the 9/11 attacks took place, but he says, they weren’t carried out by Osama or al-Qaeeda. The most likely culprits, says the General, were transnational mafias and international oligarchs

Ashis Ray – Times of India January 23, 2012

Israel could launch a unilateral strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities without much prior notice to its closest ally for over 60 year, US, according to information reaching here from Tel Aviv.While the Israeli leadership has signaled support for US president Barack Obama in his re-election bid by urging Jewish voters in America to vote for him, Israel’s defence minister Ehud Barak is said to have told general Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, that Israel will give the US no more than 12 hours notice before it ventures to demolish Iran’s nuclear installations.

Barak’s message to Dempsey followed what Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had told Obama: that an early warning of Israel’s intentions would not be available to the US. The Israeli army’s elite 35th Paratroopers Brigade is training for a longrange operation for some time, so as to be prepared for military action against Iran’s nuclear plants.

Expressing its displeasure at the non-cooperation , US has cancelled a joint antimissile exercise with Israel, which had been planned for April. On Monday, foreign ministers of the EU are expected to ban Iranian oil imports as part of efforts to tighten sanctions on Tehran.Source

Report: Israel to give US only 12-hour warning before attacking Iran because Netanyahu doesn’t trust Obama

Adam Horowitz – Mondoweiss.net January 22, 2012

Israel: We Won’t Give Advance Notice of Attack on Iran

Sunday Times reports that Israel told Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff it would give only twelve hours’ warning, for fear that Obama would try to prevent [an attack].

Maariv NRG, 22/1/12

Israel informed Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, during his visit over the weekend, that it would not request US authorisation for an attack on Iran, and that it would give only twelve hours warning before launching such an attack, according to this morning’s Sunday Times.

According to the report, Netanyahu does not trust Obama and believes the President might do everything [in his power] to prevent an attack if informed in advance, for fear of rising oil prices in an election year.

Recently, Obama called Netanyahu asking for clarifications regarding [a possible] attack [against Iran]. According to the Sunday Times report, the conversation was strained, and the Prime Minister explained his position, insisting that he would refuse to share details with the White House, should such an attack be launched. According to the report, the differences between the two sides increased further in the wake of Dempsey’s meeting with Defence Minister Ehud Barak at the weekend.

Times reporter Uzi Mahnaimi adds that outwardly, Israel and the United States are trying to downplay the crisis, but the two countries would appear to be on a collision course.

For example, Dempsey claimed that Israel and the United States had agreed to postpone the scheduled joint military exercise and that the postponement would serve [the interests of] both sides. The fact is however, a defence source told the Sunday Times, that this is false. “We were shocked”, said the source. “The exercise had been planned for two years.”

I couldn’t find the Sunday Times article on their website in front of the paywall, but please post it below in the comments if you have it.